The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has declined to allow Verizon, Ford and the American Association of Advertising Agencies from participating in an upcoming hearing on the Apple v. Motorola patent dispute. As noted by patent analyst Florian Mueller, the third parties previously submitted a joint amicus curiae brief that backed Judge Posner's June 2012 dismissal of infringement claims from both companies.

In the brief, the parties oppose product bans over standards-essential patents that fall within FRAND guidelines, or minor components in a complex device. They also support constraints to royalty damages based on alternative technologies available at the time of a design decision.
Arguing in opposition to the companies' request for participation, Google's Motorola Mobility suggested that the parties worded their filing as if it was in support of "neither party" but all of their arguments were in support of Apple. The brief essentially agreed with Judge Posner's dismissal of Apple's offensive claims related to non-standards-essential patents, however, along with the dismissal of Motorola Mobility's infringement claims focused on standards-essential patents.
"In its effort to prevent third-party stakeholders from getting to speak at the hearing, Google surprisingly took a position on the scope of the ruling that is consistent with the one outlined by Microsoft's amicus curiae brief, but runs counter to what Google said in its opening brief," Mueller writes. "Google now agrees with Microsoft that the issues on appeal are very case-specific, while it originally claimed that Judge Posner established a bright-line rule denying injunctions to SEP holders."
The cross-appeal hearing is expected to proceed as scheduled on September 11.